


Black Bird

by Skylar102



Series: Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Malec Discord Sever WINGO, Nightmares, Pre-Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Protective Magnus Bane, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Winged Alec Lightwood, Winged Magnus Bane, wing plucking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23603191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar102/pseuds/Skylar102
Summary: It’s been eleven days and his captor has not heard back from his family
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716808
Comments: 32
Kudos: 379
Collections: Wingo Summer





	Black Bird

**Author's Note:**

> First fic for the Malec Server Wingo Challenge!!  
> Prompt: Plucking

Eleven days. It’s been eleven days and his captor has not heard back from his family. He’s not surprised by this, or not as surprised as he thought he would be. When the man kidnapped him while he was out on a hunt in the woods, he expected his family to at least worry. Alec shifts his shoulder causing his wings to move behind him. He hisses out at the movement. Looking down he sees the clumps of feathers on the floor. 

While his captor has been kind to him, the realization that no one was coming to rescue him hit harder than he expected. He lets out a shuddering sigh as he moves his left wing in front of him and plucks another feather out, wincing at the pain. He twirls it in his hand, the raven feather shimmers in the light from the fireplace, showing off its purple and navy hue. How a simple color could cause him such pain. 

People don’t take kindly to those with black wings. They consider them to be cursed, an ill omen, a monster. _Pluck._ When his wings first appeared as a child, Alec remembers looking in the mirror, excited that his had finally come in. He ran to show his parents, only for them to cry out in disgust and call him a freak. He was five at the time, but the look on his parents’ faces still haunts him to this day. _Pluck._

Jace and Izzy as they got older said there was nothing wrong with the color of his wings. They would never understand the struggle it was to walk through life with black wings. Jace’s beautiful cream colored wings were loved by all. Izzy’s light blue wings were the attention of all the men and women. Two people were not enough to stop their village and their awful words. 

“Freak!”

“Stay away from my family, you monster!”

“If you come any closer, I’ll kill you!”

“Why don’t you cut them off? Save the village from having to worry about a looming disaster, you bad omen!”

_ Pluck. _

When he was able to, he made a harness that would hide his wings behind his back. It hurt, cramping his wings inside the contraption, but it had worked. The looks and the shouting subdued a bit by hiding his wings. The adults in the village still steered clear of him, but the children seemed to like him. 

He goes to grab another feather when a hand clamps his wrist before he can. He jumps back startled, he hadn’t even heard his captor enter the room let alone kneel in front of him. His captor releases his wrist and looks down at the pile of feathers on the ground. Alec doesn’t move and he watches his captor reach down and pick up a feather. 

Alec waits, his body tensing the longer the silence goes on; for the comments, the scathing remarks. He had hidden his wings from his captor, afraid that they would kill him once they found out his wings were black. His captor, Magnus, looks up at him with his brow wrinkled softly and a tinge of sadness etched across his face.

“I didn’t realize they wouldn't come for you,” Magnus admits, clutching a black feather in his hands. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

Alec nods at him but can’t bring himself to look Magnus in the eyes. He averts his eyes to look anywhere but Magnus. He focuses on the beautiful burgundy wings on Magnus’ back. “It’s… It’s okay,” he whispers out. It’s not okay, but he’s not about to show more weakness to his captor after he found him plucking out his wings. 

“Alexander,” Magnus says and the man reaches out a hand to touch his knee, but Alec moves back. He doesn’t know if he can handle being touched again right now. 

“If it’s alright, I want to go to sleep now,” Alec says, still avoiding Magnus’ gaze. He sees Magnus nod and stand up.

“There’s a tray of food over there.” Magnus points to the small table in the corner. “Make sure to eat something before you fall asleep.”

Alec nods but he knows he’s not going to eat anything. He hasn’t had an appetite since he hit day eight of his captivity. He hears Magnus let out a sigh and a door closing and he knows he’s been left alone. 

Alec doesn’t waste time pulling his legs up on the bed and laying on his side. His wings hurt from where he pulled out his feathers, but he doesn’t care. He just wants to fall asleep and not think about how his family abandoned him. He thought that at least Jace and Izzy would come for him and not hearing from them broke whatever was left whole inside him.

He lays on his side, staring into the flames of the fireplace. He watches at the logs crackle and burn in the heat. Eventually he finds himself falling into a fitful sleep with his wings curled around him.

* * *

Alec’s not surprised by the nightmares that come to him. He was expecting them. What he wasn’t expecting was to see his brother and sister next to his mother and father, telling him that he was a burden to the family. That they wish he was never born and that he should die already. The nightmare goes from bad to worse as he watches his family approach him with knives. He begs them not to do this but invisible hands hold him down and pull his wings back.

“It’s for the best,” his mother says. “Once they’re gone, we can go back to being a happy family again.”

“Please don’t do this,” he begs the nightmare. 

“We’re only doing what’s best for you,” his brother says. 

Alec screams as he feels the knives dig into his back right at the base of his wings. He screams and begs for them to stop. He doesn’t want this. They’re hurting him. The nightmare doesn’t listen, but why would it?

He wakes up when the knives slice through the bone. He cries out as he launches himself to a seated position. Not fully aware of his surroundings, he misses the body sitting next to him and jumps at the hands that wrap around his biceps. Shoving the hands away, he crawls backwards until he hits the bed frame, crying out again as his sensitive wings get crushed. He curls in on himself, ducking his head between his legs and wrapping his arms around his knees. 

“Shhh, shh, it’s okay, you’re okay,” a voice soothes next to him. “You need to breathe, Alexander. Listen to my breathing. Can you do that for me?” Alec tries to respond but his lungs won’t work. He jerks his head in what he hopes will come off as a nod. “Okay, that’s good. Now breathe in for me? Hold. Good. Now breathe out. Again.” Magnus’ voice washes over him as he repeats what the man instructs him to do. 

Eventually his breathing goes back to normal and he leans back against the headboard, closing his eyes.

“Are you alright now?” Magnus asks worriedly from where he sits. Alec peeks open an eye to stare at the man. The panic and worry shown clearly on the man’s face. 

“Yeah,” he breathes out. “I’m okay.”

“Good, that’s good,” Magnus sighs. The man fidgets where he sits and his eyes keep drifting up and down Alec’s body. “Do you want to talk about it?” Magnus winces as the words come out of his mouth. Alec huffs out a laugh.

“No, not really,” he replies. The man jerks a nod at that.

“Right, sorry. Of course you wouldn’t want to talk about it,” Magnus rushes out. The room goes quiet as they both sit there. The only sound coming from the fireplace which, Alec notes as he looks over, has fresh logs put on it. Magnus follows his movement. “I knew that the fire in here was going to die and I didn’t want you to freeze at night so I brought some fresh logs to put in.”

“Thank you,” Alec says. “You didn’t have to do that, I would’ve been fine. I’m used to sleeping in the cold.” Those words seem to anger Magnus, judging by the way his face closes off and his hands curl into fists where they rest on his lap. 

“What do you mean you’re used to it?” Magnus asks. “I saw your family’s house, you are well off enough that you most certainly own a fireplace or two to keep the place warm.” 

“If I lived in the house, yes, but I don't. My parents made me move out to our barn to keep the bad luck away from the house.” He doesn’t look up from Magnus’ hands as he watches his knuckles turn white. 

“They made you sleep in the barn?” Magnus grits out. “Surely someone in your town would have reported them for this?”

“If the town didn’t also hate my presence, maybe.” Alec half shrugs, hisses a bit as the movement jostles his wings. Magnus notices that and raises a hand to help before realizing what he was doing. His eyes widen and he quickly lowers his hand. Magnus stands up from the bed.

“I have some medical salves that should help your wings,” Magnus says, walking towards the door. “I’ll be right back.” Before he leaves, he nods to the tray of food still untouched by the table. “Maybe you should try and eat. It will make you feel a bit better.”

With that, Alec is once again left alone in the room. He sits on the bed in thought, confused as to how the atmosphere has changed. Before, his captor only checked in to give him food and to give him wood for the fire. He never once attempted a conversation. Was it because of his wings? Magnus had never asked him to show his wings before. Now that he’s seen them, is he going to kill him? 

Alec panics at the thought before he remembers how angry Magnus looked when he talked about his living conditions. Surprised at the barely kept in anger the spread across the man’s whole body. Was he upset that he discovered too late that the person he kidnapped had black wings? That no one was going to pay the ransom to get him back?

As questions fill his mind, his stomach lets out a loud grumble. He looks over to the table where the food from yesterday still sits. Deciding for the best, he slowly crawls out of bed, giving his body a long stretch that has him groaning at the needles that shoot along his spine. He walks over to the table and sits down. 

Fruits, nuts and veggies cover the platter in front of him. Magnus must have stopped trying to give him hot foods after he stopped eating a few days ago. His stomach’s persistent grumbling has him picking up a few nuts and tossing them into his mouth. It’s like a damn breaking, he starts to eat more and more, grabbing piece after piece of food. He grabs the glass of water on the table and downs the whole thing in one go.

“You know you can make yourself sick if you eat too quickly,” the voice by the door says. Alec looks up and sees Magnus leaning against the frame with a basket of vials in his hands. He looks back at the tray and sees that most of it is gone. He hadn’t even realized how much he ate. Magnus chuckles at the blush that crawls up Alec’s face, his wings doing nothing but admitting his embarrassment by curling around him.

Magnus pushes off the frame and sets the basket on the table, he grabs the other chair and moves it next to Alec’s. Sitting down, Magnus sifts through the basket and looks for what he needs. Alec takes the time to really look at the man. 

The first thought that comes into his mind is how beautiful Magnus' wings are. The burgundy wings attached to the man’s back are rich with the color. Alec’s not sure if the fire is playing tricks on his eyes, but Alec’s pretty sure there’s gold flecks spread throughout the feathers, making the wings glitter in the light. Looking away from the wings, his eyes scan the navy button up that accentuates his wings to the dark tan pants. 

“Aha!” Magnus exclaims, snapping him out of his trance. He looks at the man’s hand and sees a vial full of a mysterious green liquid. Magnus turns to him with a grin on his face. “This should help soothe the aches from where the feathers were pulled out earlier.” Alec eyes dart back and forth between Magnus’ face and the liquid causing the man to roll his eyes. “It’s not going to kill you, I promise.”

“You’re okay with touching my wings?” Alec asks instead, watching as the man’s face drops. 

“Of course I’m okay with that,” Magnus spoke softly. “There’s nothing wrong with your wings. They’re beautiful.” Alec can’t help the snort that leaves his body. “They truly are, Alexander,” Magnus persists. “The way they have a navy and purple tint in the light. They remind me of the night sky, when you can see the galaxy and the stars in it.”

“You can’t mean that, Magnus,” Alec whispers out. 

“But I do. They truly are gorgeous.” Magnus reaches out slowly towards his wings, pausing just before. Alec hesitates before nodding and Magnus gently touches his wings. A shiver runs through his whole body at the sensations. No one has ever touched his wings, not even his siblings. He wouldn’t let them. Didn’t want to risk them getting bad luck from touching them, but something about the way Magnus looked at him made him trust the man.

“Can I put the salve on?” Magnus asks as he continues to pet his wing.

“Yeah,” Alec says, his voice more hoarse than he expected. Magnus sends him a kind smile and goes about pouring the liquid on his hands.

“Spread your wing out for me, darling,” he says gently. Alec can’t help but comply and stretches his right wing out slowly. Looking at the wing, he can see a small patch where feathers used to be. It’s barely noticeable, but anyone who looks close enough will see that there are feathers missing. A feeling of shame passes over him and he scolds himself for being so weak. 

Magnus touches the feathers around the area, moving them out of the way while his other hand rubs the salve on the sensitive skin. Alec can’t help the moan that leaves his mouth as the cool salve touches his skin. He already begins to feel the stinging pain fade away. Magnus chuckles at his sounds as he finishes up the spot moving back to appraise his work.

“There, all done.” Magnus smiles at him and he can’t help smiling back.

“Thank you, Magnus,” Alec says. He fidgets a bit while watching Magnus clean off his hand and put the vial back in the basket, wondering if he should ask the question that’s on the tip of his tongue. Magnus catches his movement and gives him an encouraging nod. 

“What’s going to happen now?” He blurts out before he can stop himself causing Magnus to give him a puzzling look. “I mean, you know that you’re not going to get a ransom from my family so are you going to let me go? Or are you going to kill me?”

A look of sheer horror passes over Magnus’ face at his words.

“No! I would never,  _ never _ want to kill you,” Magnus says. Turning fully towards Alec, he grabs both of his hands and grips them tight. “Alexander, you deserve to see the world for what it’s truly like, not what your backwards town thinks the world is like. There are so many people with wings like yours in the world. There’s nothing wrong with you. If I have to spend the rest of my life proving that to you then so be it.”

Alec stares at the man in front of him, like he’s seeing the man who’s been his captor for the past eleven days for the first time. There’s determination set in the man’s eyes, that he’s not willing to let Alec go easily. But only one line is repeating in his head.

“The rest of your life?” Alec gets out, his mind racing. He clutches back at the hands still holding his. 

“Yes.” Magnus doubles down on the words. “I won’t let you go back to that hellscape of a village. I can’t. You deserve to be happy, Alexander. And I want to give that to you. If you’ll have me.”

Alec thinks over the words, the offer Magnus is giving him. He’s never left the village before, never wandered past its boundaries in the forest. Too afraid of what will attack him because of the color of his wings. This would be his chance to escape, to be free. He’s surprised at how quickly his answer comes to him.

“Okay,” he says. A smile slowly spread on his face. Magnus’ face lights up with joy and the man rushes to embrace him. Alec stiffens for a moment before melting into the hug.

“I promise you, Alexander,” Magnus whispers in his ear. “You won’t regret this.”

**Author's Note:**

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